FEATURE: Mike Tedesco reviews 4/26 WWE Smackdown

The show kicked off with a tremendous No Disqualification match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger. Why are these two having better matches on free TV than they had at WrestleMania? This was a lot of fun. They just went out there and beat the hell out of each other to entertain the fans. I enjoyed this more than last week’s match. My only real qualm with this match was Del Rio’s selling. Swagger was working over that leg with the kendo stick really well. Then, inexplicably, Del Rio went on to hit him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and he didn’t do anything to convey that the move may have hurt that injured knee even a little bit. That’s a little sloppy work on his end. I hate to be a snob about them (I’m usually not), but that was egregious.

So, yeah, the Divas had a match. Layla was returning back home, but I don’t think the British crowd could care less. The match wasn’t great, either.

I was glad they got Fandango out there for a second television match in Europe instead of sending him on with the RAW crew for the second leg of the tour. Reactions like this don’t come along that often, nor do they last forever, so it’s cool that they’re milking it a little more.

Sheamus and Big Show had a heck of a match in the middle of the show. These two had a really fun and physical feud to close out 2012, and they really delivered a good television match. I was glad to see Mark Henry come out at the end as they continue to further the feud between him and Sheamus. They haven’t announced it yet, but it looks like we’re getting Sheamus and Henry at Extreme Rules. I can’t wait for that. Sheamus works really well with big guys, and these two match-up really well.

When I saw in the preview that William Regal was going to take on Wade Barrett, I had some high hopes for it. That just sounds like a great match-up to have in England, but alas it wasn’t given that much time (probably a minute or so I’d estimate), and Barrett handled Regal easily. I guess it’s just as well. Regal hasn’t been on WWE TV in a long time, so it wouldn’t make much sense of him to take it to either Barrett or Fandango on RAW.

The Orton/Henry match was OK. You had to figure that Sheamus was going to try to get even with Henry for costing him his match earlier, so you’re just waiting for him to interfere. It felt like Orton and Henry weren’t going to give full effort knowing that was going to happen. Of course, Sheamus did interfere with a Brogue Kick on Henry. Orton then dropped Henry with an RKO for good measure.

I really enjoyed the main event. There is something about the Undertaker’s presence that makes the show feel that much more important. This was really fun for me to recap. The last time Undertaker wrestled on Smackdown, Paul Bearer was managing him as he faced CM Punk when Smackdown switched to the SyFy Network in 2010. That’s a long time. It was great to see him mix it up with Dean Ambrose, who was having his first WWE singles match of his career. He hung in there with a legend, and he looked good while doing so. The post-match assault on Undertaker was well done. At his age, Undertaker doesn’t need to be doing this anymore. He’s made his money, and he’s taken his bumps. It’s a testament to the kind of man and performer he is. He still has the desire to be in there against the young talent and make them look good. That was a great angle to close the show. I’m wondering where they’ll go with The Shield and the Undertaker next.

All in all, there were three quality matches on a two hour show with some storylines being furthered. What more could you ask for if you’re a wrestling fan?

Bump of the Night: Undertaker being Triple Powerbombed through the table!Match of the Night: Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger ** ¼